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Japanese Films about WWII Spark Controversy
USNI News ^ | April 14, 2014 | USNI News

Posted on 04/14/2014 11:57:40 AM PDT by Saint X

A film about kamikaze pilots has been playing to packed theaters from Hokkaido to Kyushu since its release in December of 2013, becoming one of the top-grossing Japanese productions of all time. In addition to attracting the admiration of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, “The Eternal Zero” has drawn a fair amount of criticism for being the latest in a string of recent films that mythologize the Japanese role in World War II.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.usni.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Japan; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: japan; kamikaze; movies; shimpu; wwii
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To: Vaquero

When Hitler read account of the Rape of Nanking he thought his ally was being unnecessarily cruel to the Chinese. Wow, if Hitler thinks you are being cruel then look out.


61 posted on 04/14/2014 1:41:29 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: dhs12345
What an ignorant thing to say.

Perhaps not...allow me to offer a different context. It's possible that many of those visiting were there to offer thanks to the American liberators. In the aftermath of WWII, America fed and rebuilt Europe.

During my tour in Germany, I heard many stories from Germans who remembered the kindness of Americans, and they wanted me to know America's sacrifice would not be forgotten.

62 posted on 04/14/2014 1:42:23 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (For every Ted Cruz we send to DC, I can endure 2-3 "unviable" candidates that beat incumbents.)
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To: Vaquero

I wonder if the movie shows how the IJN and Japanese Army Air Force used psychological pressure to obtain ‘volunteers’ for kamikaze units? Because that’s fairly well documented from among the ‘survivors’ (pilots who didn’t actually fly a mission). I only mention that because the enthusiasm for the mission was not universal.


63 posted on 04/14/2014 1:49:34 PM PDT by Tallguy
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To: dhs12345

“There were dead Americans below our feet. They were killed in a sneak attack and possibly by the fathers and grandfathers of the people standing in the line with us.”


I know,I’ve been there.

“Possibly by the fathers and grandfathers-——”. So what? It’s in the past. The war has been over for 69 years.

.


64 posted on 04/14/2014 1:50:26 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Saint X
In addition to attracting the admiration of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, “The Eternal Zero” has drawn a fair amount of criticism ...

Did they actually see the movie?

Or did they just assume it was President Obama's life story?

65 posted on 04/14/2014 1:54:40 PM PDT by x
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To: dhs12345

The Japanese visit Pearl Harbor to see the site of their greatest victory. As for the Kamakazis—Japan’s air planes were so bad that most were shot out of the sky —the Kamaizai tactics were one of the few ways a pilot could make his loss count for something. For many it was a logical choice. In the 1950s, I read that American Pilots were to crash there fighters into Soviet Nuclear bombers before they could reach American Cities—would they have done it—I believe they would.


66 posted on 04/14/2014 1:56:37 PM PDT by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: Tallguy

Dad, not being restrained by Asian nationality differences, named a hypothetical surviving kamikaze pilot in a joke, ‘chicken chowmein’.

Of course dad fought against the Japanese on Guadalcanal and Bougainville. So he pretty much had the right to say it anyway he wanted. Later in life he bought a Toyota. I guess the price was right.


67 posted on 04/14/2014 1:57:38 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: SeeSharp

That’s funny, I remember being dragged in to watch “French Lieutenants Woman” and wanted to kill myself afterward...


68 posted on 04/14/2014 1:57:50 PM PDT by shotgun
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To: Night Hides Not

A person can be “glass is half empty” in situations like this one.

People refer to it as a “memorial” however, what many people don’t realize, is that it is actually a cemetery that contains the remains well over 1000 servicemen who were never interred.

So, as an American, there are plenty of emotions while touring the exhibit. Anger and resentment and sadness and appreciation, just to name a few. And I was born well after WWII.

If you haven’t been, you should see it. It is very unique.


69 posted on 04/14/2014 2:03:58 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: Forward the Light Brigade

Yup. Desperation will drive people to take extreme actions.

Heck, I might even fly a plane into a nuke that was headed for my city if I knew that it might save my family.


70 posted on 04/14/2014 2:07:29 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: Mears

Interesting. “So what?”

They died for you bub.

And if the war had turned out differently, your future might be very differently.

But “so what.”


71 posted on 04/14/2014 2:12:58 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: Chainmail
I watched the 2013 Russian version of Stalingrad. Some good special effects but the German version of Stalingrad was much more intense. I guess I liked the German version best because you saw it from the losers perspective.
72 posted on 04/14/2014 2:14:08 PM PDT by mware
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To: Tallguy

That is the main criticism of The Eternal Zero - that the pilots are portrayed as volunteers acting out of duty, not as young kids who were told that they would be a disgrace to their families if they did not die


73 posted on 04/14/2014 2:23:07 PM PDT by Saint X
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To: FatherofFive
I remember watching "Pork Chop Hill" as a youngster. I hated the Japs.

But wasn't that a movie about the Korean War?

74 posted on 04/14/2014 2:29:09 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (The Left: speaking power to truth since Shevirat HaKelim.)
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To: shotgun
That’s funny, I remember being dragged in to watch “French Lieutenants Woman” and wanted to kill myself afterward.

chick flicks. you go to see these for a different reason than the movie.

you either try during the movie.....or you hope for a reward later.

back in HS, 48-52 years ago, I got drug to the theater to see Dr. Zhivago and Gone With The Wind(a 25 year old re-release) by a redhead who never heard the 'redheads are oversexed' chestnut....I still don't know nothin’ bout birthin’ no babies....and in those days you were lucky to get to second base....

75 posted on 04/14/2014 2:31:05 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Forward the Light Brigade

The USAF pilots flying cover over NYC immediately after 9/11 were flying unarmed aircraft. Their orders were to
(somehow) disable any other aircraft that didn’t answer challenges in the closed airspace over Ground Zero. The orders left the details up to the pilots as to how to accomplish that mission & survive.


76 posted on 04/14/2014 2:33:44 PM PDT by Tallguy
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To: Zionist Conspirator; FatherofFive

Bluto: What? Over? Did you say “over”? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Otter: Germans?

Boon: Forget it, he’s rolling.


77 posted on 04/14/2014 2:33:51 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: dhs12345

For heaven’s sake, I didn’t disrespect those that died that day.

We’re discussing tourists visiting a memorial,tourists that the Hawaiian economy encourages.

.


78 posted on 04/14/2014 2:41:11 PM PDT by Mears
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To: Last Dakotan

Or to starve on bypassed islands after we had moved past and stopped their logistics.


79 posted on 04/14/2014 2:44:05 PM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Night Hides Not
Yamamoto went to Harvard and traveled extensively throughout the US. He understood what Japan was getting into, but could not convince his superiors.
80 posted on 04/14/2014 2:53:31 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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